Introduction
Exploring teaching and learning through the study and implementation of education psychology and what best practices to apply when teaching students to encourage them to be engaged in a positive learning experience within a safe learning enviorment.
Field Experience Site – Site Name
The program where I completed my field experience was conducted at the Boys and Girls Club of Gainesville Georgia located at Gainesville Exploration Academy where the majority of the students are from broken homes. The purpose of the Boys and Girls Club is to provide a safe learning environment along with building character through positive involvement with the children of living within the community.
Gainesville City School System (2016) study found the following:
Gainesville Exploration Academy has approximately one thousand thirty-four students from kindergarten thru fifth grade. The student population consists of 82% Latino, 8% African American, 5% Caucasian, 4% Asian, and 1% Multiracial. Currently, 93% of students are considered economically disadvantaged. Approximately, 5% of the student population receives special education services, and 70% of the students receive English as a second language. (2016, GCS, Title I SWP/SIP Pg. 3)
My Field Experience: Connections to Educational Psychology.
While observing and interacting with the children during my field experience, I observed different theories of motivation and teaching techniques used by the teachers at the Boys and Girls
During my field experience at Ridge Elementary school, I was placed in a 4th-grade classroom. While working on my field experience I had gotten the luxury to connect and bond with several types of student’s from various backgrounds and demographics. When I first stepped foot into the fourth-grade classroom it was very well decorated with quotes, educational tips, and motivational messages. There were three windows in which the students often gazed out while working. The walls were an eggshell color which was kind of depressing. Adding color to the walls would have made the environment feel a little more joyful yet the students still made that classroom their second home by decorating their desks.
During the months of September and October this semester I spent time at two different schools in four different classrooms. Being able to observe different classes and teachers at Westside Junior High and South Live Oak Elementary was a very new and exciting experience for me since I can’t say I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. My experiences at these schools gave me a better insight into the differences between schools, classrooms, and teachers. The purpose of this field experience was to get 10 observation or tutoring hours in an elementary or junior high setting. I chose to observe a
The Boys & Girls Club of Kern County is a non-profit, established in 1996, dedicated to help young individuals in preparing for their futures. The chapter focuses on helping these individuals with character building, doing well in school, and becoming a responsible citizen within the community. This chapter provides services for “over 5,000 children daily at our 3 clubhouses and 49 campus based programs” (Kern County Boys & Girls Club, 2015). The goal of the organization is to make a positive influence on these children lives and their future. The Boys & Girls Club makes it easier for parents to focus on work by taking the responsibility for creating a safe and fun learning environment for these children. By doing so, children in unstable households receive a greater chance at a successful future. In 2013, the club served 2046 children at the Niles Clubhouse, where 87% of the members were on free or reduced lunch programs (Kern County Boys & Girls Club, 2015). This supports the foundation statement of the organization that the community needs to be involved in making programs that will result in a better future for all children. The organization’s partnership with PG&E to provide scholarships and summer internships is one of the most prevalent portrayals of the community working together to create better futures for the children of Kern County. The after school program is the most popular program the organization offers because
My field experience took place at School for All Seasons in Isanti, MN. I spent some time in both a kindergarten and first grade classroom. This was an exciting time as I got be part of the kindergarten class on the first two days of school and the second week with the first grade classroom. The kindergarten classroom had approximately 18 students and the first grade classroom had approximately 22 students.
While observing during my fieldwork assignment I had the pleasure of speaking candidly with quite a few teachers. It was Chanel Thompson’s conversation that stood out to me most. It seems we are like minded in many ways. Currently she works at Francis Elementary, a school that is currently plagued with the daunting tasks of trying to enrich not only the academic careers but the lives of its students. Francis Elementary is one of the many Houston schools that services children that fall in the bottom of the lower middle class, in terms of socio economic statuses. Like me, Chanel stated that she picked this profession because of the impact she would have on various children that she would teach from year to year. After teaching for just four short years she still feels the same way. She went on to say “Teaching will be the hardest yet most rewarding job you will ever have.”
Taking a class about teaching and actually going to a classroom to teach is an eye opening experience. Field experience helps prepare you for what an actual classroom setting is like when you’re in charge and not just teaching in front of your peers. By taking part in field experience I was able to learn new things about education as a whole and myself in general. Field experience changed me by allowing me to see the classroom through teacher’s eyes and helping me narrow down the list of what career I might want in the future. Going into the field experience I had no idea what to expect.
I spent the past six weeks at Kensington Elementary School. The experience has been amazing, but also a huge eye opener. There were many negatives and positives sides to wanting to be a teacher. From the beginning to the end, I learned what it takes to be a teacher.
In assessment, validity and reliability are two major factors. “Validity is the soundness of your interpretations and uses of students’ assessment results” (Brookhart & Nitko, 2015, p. 38). This basically means, does the assessment measure what it was intended to measure? Validity has four principles: interpretations, uses, values, and consequences. An example of a valid assessment is the SAT. The SAT is valid, because it provides the assessor evidence to make appropriate interpretations and uses. The assessor is able to make meaningful judgments and actions based on the scores of the SAT (Brookhart & Nitko, 2015, p. 38-40). The other important factor is reliability. “Reliability is the degree to which students’ results remain consistent over replications of assessment procedure” (Brookhart & Nitko, 2015, p.67). For example, if a test is valid, the student should score consistently with no intervention. However, if a treatment or invention occurs, the score should be altered. An
This field experience was a very interesting project for me. I received many opportunities for learning and to gain experience as an educator and for my future as an administrator. Activities that were included: interviewing administrators, interviewing teachers, researching and reviewing two comprehensive strategic plans, evaluating a comprehensive plan using the supplied rubric, researching past school board agendas and minutes and comparing them to the comprehensive strategic plan. Throughout this field experience I was able to develop a new understanding of the process involved in developing a comprehensive plan at both the principal and the teacher level. The field experience I feel was meaningful for an introductory
My field placement experience means so much to me. The placement started, theoretically with the interview. I was nervous about it, as it was the most important interview I have had to go to. I ensured that I dressed or the occasion, in smart attire and prepared some insight into the agency Acces Employment. The interview went really well, Harpreet Shah, one of the agency staff, gave me a short presentation and the interview was more informal than I expected. My first experience of an interview for a field placement was nerve racking, but from it I learnt a few things such as preparation is key, to talk in a calm, polite but confident manner and to ensure that you absorb all the information that the interviewee is giving thus allowing you to
My child 's name is Jude Alexander and he is a male. As a baby he is cautious around new people and situations, but warms up fairly quickly to friendly people. In kindergarten Jude Alexander seemed to have made one or two friends and usually played cooperatively and was sometimes reluctant to join in new activities with unfamiliar children. He performed below average on tests of vocabulary, and the ability to retell a story. He had a real knack for the art projects, and really got interested in the pre-math activities involving working with blocks and geometric shapes. In first through fifth grade he worked cooperatively in groups, usually respects the rights and property of others, and usually demonstrates appropriate peer social interaction. He demonstrates strength in art, all areas of reading, and in spelling and appropriate for the grade level in writing. He needs additional help in the areas of speaking and listening and in the content knowledge of social studies, science and music. He was average in mathematical problem solving, understanding of data, number concepts, graphical applications, and arithmetic computation. In the seventh grade, he consistently contributes to cooperative group activities and respects the rights and possessions of others, and shows age-appropriate social interaction with peers. He demonstrates strength in art, reading, spelling and writing. He was average in math and science, and needs additional
At the beginning of the semester, the two days of field placement seemed so far away, but the day arrived soon enough. I was placed in New Tech High School in Sioux Falls, which is a project based learning school. Coming from a traditional classroom setup, I was unsure how I felt about being placed in a classroom so foreign to me. However, after viewing the classes for a couple days I see some of the merit to the project based learning
This has changed the challenges I think I will face as a teacher because I thought that it would be possible to teach all the children at the same level, but after learning about ZPD and working with some student’s during field experience, I have come to see that all my students will be starting my class at different levels. Two of the students at my field experience attend the same middle school class. The girl was able to work through her homework easily after I explained some of the word problems to her, but the boy had trouble answering the problems because he did not know how to multiply three digit numbers by two digit numbers. At his grade level, he should have been able to do this. Because of this, I will face the challenge of making
In the elementary classroom how, do educators maintain a classroom community that involves students’ backgrounds and interests? The overall inquiry of this project focuses on exactly what was analyzed in the previous section through scholarly literature. To build on these ideas, a fieldwork analysis of two classrooms has been ongoing over the past three months to investigate this same query. Throughout the fieldwork, most of the data collected has been done by observation and participation in the two classrooms. Thorough notes have been taken throughout fieldwork and weekly reflections have been written to gather thoughts based on the weeks in the classrooms. Furthermore, brief and informal interviews with the classroom teachers as well as some students have also been used to collect data for the analysis.
One of the more popular areas of psychology is Educational Psychology. Educational Psychology can be explained several ways. The idea is to study theories and concepts from different parts of psychology and apply them in educational settings. These educational settings may occur in different school settings such as preschool. The goal of educational psychology is to create a positive student-teacher relationship. Educational psychology uses five different types of psychology, behavioral, cognitive, developmental, and social cognitive, and constructivist in this research paper I will be briefly discussing each type of psychology listed above.